With this request for information, The Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (hereinafter HUS) launches a market consultation to prepare a procurement. The aim of this request for information is to find suppliers operating in this field of business, get information of the solutions available in the market, and inform our plans and requirements for the forthcoming procurement.

SUBJECT OF PROCUREMENT

HUS is preparing/planning a tendering process for antibodies for flow cytometry and reagents used in immunophenotyping. The products are used in the Special Hematology Unit laboratory of the HUS Diagnostic Center. The laboratory performs approximately 8,000 flow cytometric analyses annually, including diagnostic and staging studies of hemato-lymphatic malignancies, minimal residual disease assessments, immunological studies, determination of lymphocyte subpopulations and enumeration of CD34+ stem cells, as well as tests for detecting fetomaternal hemorrhage.

The samples consist mainly of blood, bone marrow, and cerebrospinal fluid samples, as well as cell suspensions prepared from tissue specimens. Antibody staining is used to examine which cell types are present in the sample, how many of each cell type there are, and whether the sample contains abnormal cells, such as leukemic cells. For cell identification, the cells are stained with various antibody combinations that recognize specific cellular structures. With the current instruments in the flow cytometry laboratory, it is possible to detect 12 different fluorescence labels simultaneously from a single staining, meaning that up to 12 structural characteristics of a single cell can be identified at the same time. To obtain sufficient information from one sample, multiple stainings containing 8–12 antibodies (=a testing panel) are typically performed.

Antibody combinations in testing panels have been carefully designed and tested to obtain sufficient diagnostic accuracy. Therefore, both the clone and the fluorochrome of the antibody must remain unchanged, and no fluorescence labels or clones other than those currently in use can be accepted. The CE/IVD-marked antibodies currently in use must remain CE/IVD-marked in the future, as the IVDR requires the use of CE/IVD-marked products, instruments, and protocols whenever this is possible.

If the supplier offers an antibody from a different manufacturer than the one currently used in the laboratory, and the offered antibody is preliminarily selected as the winning candidate, the supplier must, at their own expense, demonstrate that the offered antibody functions in the same manner as the antibody currently used in the laboratory. However, if the regulatory status of the currently used antibody is RUO and the offered antibody is CE/IVD marked (with the same clone and fluorochrome as the currently used antibody), HUS will perform the testing of the antibody itself.

The antibodies that are planned to be tendered, along with their fluorescence labels and clones, are listed in the attached appendice: Appendix 1 HUS 570-2025 Antibodies

INSTRUCTIONS FOR ANSWERING

Respondents are kindly asked to send a message along with the completed Appendix 1 to the email address: [email protected]. The appendice can be found in the Cloudia Supplier Portal. The link to the Portal is situated in "Participation" -page of the prior information notice at www.hankintailmoitukset.fi. At TED database the link can be found in section "Procurement documents" of the prior information notice.

We are also interested in knowing what information you would require, at a minimum, in order to submit a tender and to carry out the testing.

Within their answer respondents may also attach any brochures available of the products/services.

SCHEDULE FOR RESPODING

Answers to Appendix 1 should be submitted by 30.3.2026 12:00 GMT+2 at the latest. The title or message field of the e-mail should mention: HUS 570-2025 Antibodies for flow cytometry.

MARKET DIALOGUE

HUS may, at its discretion, propose supplementary market dialogue discussions with those who respond to this notice. If necessary, the contracting authority will arrange supplier-specific market dialogues in March–April 2026.

INFORMATION FOR THE PROCEDURE

HUS is tentatively planning to publish a call for tenders in June 2026.

This request for information is not a contract notice, a prior information notice, or a call for tenders, and the publication of this notice does not initiate a procurement procedure.

HUS may specify the subject of the procurement in a subsequent contract notice. The requirements for a subsequent procurement and invitation to tender will be determined on the basis of the needs of the contracting entity, with the aim of taking into account the information obtained in the market survey. This notice provides the information currently held by the contracting entity on the procurement to operators on the market. The procurement is in the planning stage and the plans, with their schedules and information, can still be specified and changed.

The request for information does not oblige the procurement unit to carry out the actual procurement, but the decision to initiate a possible procurement process is made separately. Neither the request for information nor its replies are binding on either party. Responding to a request for information does not affect the position of the tenderer in the forthcoming tender.

The costs associated with responding to a request for information are borne by the respondent, and HUS does not pay compensation for responding to a request for information or participating the procurement procedure.